OWENSBORO, Ky. (7/16/13) --Hospice of Western Kentucky’s 20-year dream is about to come true with the construction of their new in-patient care facility on Old Hartford Rd. in Owensboro. The facility is expected to open in October.

“With everything we’ve done, we were missing an in-patient facility,” said Rod McFain, President & CEO of Hospice of Western Kentucky.

Hospice voted three years ago to start the planning process and construction has been underway since Nov. 2012. The new facility will house acute patients suffering great amounts of pain and other medical symptoms requiring clinical care that could not be provided in a home setting. There were zero inpatient treatments in the older facility at Wathen’s Crossing, making the new facility the first free-standing unit in Western Kentucky.

The Old Hartford Rd. location, named the Heartford House, will be a 15,000 sq. ft. residency, with 12 rooms and 13 beds. There will also be a great room, family room, children’s activity room, reception area, meditation room, and isolation room.

The new location is definitely off the beaten path with a private gravel road leading up to the serene setting of the Heartford House.

“We wanted to give our residents a place to get their pain and symptoms under control, but also keep a beautiful, home-like atmosphere,” said McFain.

The Western Kentucky location serves 600 families a year who have a member in the final phase of a life-limiting illness. They provide nurses, personal care, social workers, spiritual counselors, personal care specialists, equipment, pharmaceuticals related to diagnosis, all paid for by Hospice, said McFain.

Hospice of Western Kentucky is non-profit, Medicare and Medicaid certified. They service Daviess, Hancock, Muhlenberg, and Hopkins Counties.

The funding for the new facility has come from Hospice’s Capital Campaign and reserve accounts. For every dollar raised for the campaign, Hospice will match it. Gifts and donations including pledges, stocks and securities, and individual gifts will also be matched. The company is hoping not to borrow any money for the construction of the approximately $4.5 million project

Hospice of Western Kentucky’s mission for the Heartford House is to “provide high-quality physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and comforting care, through a team approach, to individuals living at the end of life and to their families,” according to their Capital Campaign.

Hospice is hiring 35 nurses for the new facility and applications are currently being reviewed.